First off, a quick reminder about the Prepay Discount that we will continue through the end of the month. For every $1,000 you prepay to your account, the farm will add $100 as a Thank You for your continued support. You can use this credit however and whenever you choose.
On the meat side of things, we have just received more beef and pork into our new walk-in freezer. Jump on to try all the wonderful flavors. The demand for our meats has gone through the roof over the last year, so we are trying to catch up. I would like to apologize if the supply on meats has been frustrating. It has been a major hurdle for us, but think that we are on the right track to increase our supply, while not cutting any corners on quality. We want to only bring you the best, so that has lead to shortages. But we are working on it. Thanks for your understanding and patience.
So, as you all are pretty well aware of, February came in like a California beach and left like a North Dakotan tundra. I have not seen a snow fall like we had last Friday in about 10 years. I measured over 9” of snow Saturday morning and I am sure many places got a lot more.
I am happy to say that none of our greenhouses or animals were affected by the snow fall. I was afraid the weight of the snow could collapse a greenhouse (I have seen it before), but fortunately everything is still standing. We did not really have anything in the fields so the moisture was a welcomed sight.
The only real issue that we had due to the storm was pushing back our spring plant-out dates about a week. Looks like mid 60s for the next week, so we will have thousands of plants hitting the soil for their spring push. Exciting time to see a greenhouse full of baby plants get emptied out into the fields. Seeing this large transplant, it is easy to understand why our propagation greenhouse is the epicenter of life for the whole farm. And why there is no place on the farm that gets as much attention and TLC as the propagation house.
Lastly this week, our intern Manager and Coordinator, Ash, has asked me (ok, maybe pleaded) to send out an APB for more interns in the newsletter. So here it is. If you or someone you know is looking for an apprenticeship on a farm, we need you. As I have mentioned previously, we are expanding our internships to be a larger and more dynamic role here at the farm. We put a ton of energy into this program and it pays off for our farm and our local farms that spawn from this training.
This is not an internship on poetry and afternoon tea in the garden. We pride ourselves on running a for-profit sustainable Organic farm and with that we make sure all the interns know what the pieces are that go into this farm. So they get hands-on experience with growing, marketing, and distributing local food. It is very hard work but you will learn a lot about growing food systems and probably learn a lot about yourself too. For more info, email Ash at .
What else is happening this week? Shoot, I would have to say that the arrival of spring flavors is in full swing right now. Tender roots (radishes, beets), dark greens, peas, asparagus, and shortly strawberries are all coming in from the fields. I have to admit that this is one of my favorite times of the year as a veggie-lover.
This is the time for transitions. We begin the migration from using our ovens to lightly sauteing things on the stove top. The final summer resting place is always on the grill for me though. I encourage you to look at yourself and what your body is craving this time of year. I think we start to not think about our crock pots as much even as they sustained us throughout cold short days of winter. Salads begin to have some more life to them as peas and baby peppers spice up the mundane.
All in all, enjoy this transitional time with your food. Building this connection with our food and the seasons grounds us. It is the refuge from the storm of monotony that we see in the grocery stores. Enjoy the journey amigos.
Farmer Monte